abc2news is brought to you by triple-a. blah disparage nearly half of american voters. we have the very latest. and royal rumble. today prince william and wife kate file a criminal complaint against a photographer who snapped the topless shots? can the court really draw a line around the world's most famous royal couple? plus, she asked and you voted. from ed sullivan to "saturday

night live". a million votes later, barbara walters talks to tina fey about the shows america says were the best on tv. good onning. i'm cynthia mcfadden. we begin with breaking news a secretly recorded tape at a mitt romney fund-raiser with content so controversial that it led the controversial nominee to speak out tonight. the tape earlier this year captures the presidential hopeful, saying that nearly half of the american voters are living off the government and believe they are victims. david muir has the latest on the developing story. tonight mitt romney walking up

with a smile but his campaign is in mode this evening. >> i understand there's a video on the internet for a few weeks that's attract the some attention. >> reporter: that video posted in snippets shows mitt romney in a partially blurred out video speaking to wealthy fund raisers. romney said nearly half of the americans believe they're victims, and goes on to say his job is not to worry about those people. there's 47% who vote with him no matter what. 47% who are with him, who are dependent on government. who believe the government has the responsibility to care for them. who believe they're entitled to health care, food, housing, you name it. that's entitlement. they will vote for this president no matter what. >> reporter: he said those people pay no income tax.

>> my job is never worry about those people. they should take personal responsibility and care fof their lives. what i have to do is convince the 5% to 10%. >> reporter: romney goes on to say how he plans to reach those voters some who voted for barack obama. >> you say do you think barack obama is a failure? they say no. they like him. >> reporter: on the political website, audio from what is believed to be the same fund-raiser. talking about his father born in mexico to american parents. romney said had he been born to mexican parents, he would have a better chance of winning. >> my dad, as you probably know was the governor of michigan and was head of a car company but he was born in mexico. had he been born of mexican parents i would have a better

shot of winning. >> reporter: about the perceptions he was born to a privileged home. >> there's the perception that i was born with a silver spoon. >> reporter: he says 95% is set up for you if you're born in this country and shares the strategy of using ann on the trail. >> use ann sparingly so people don't get tired of her. >> reporter: romney said whoever released the snippets should release them in their entirety. >> whatever released them, release the whole tape so we can see all of it. >> reporter: romney saying he never could convince americans to take personality responsibility for their lives? >> of course individuals are going to take responsibility for their life. my campaign is about helping people take more responsibility and becoming employed again. particularly those that don't have work. my campaign is focused on getting people jobs again.

>> it's shocking that a candidate that the president of the united states would go behind closed doors and declare to wealthy donors that half of the american voters view themselves as victims. president obama had his own moment caught on tape in a private fund racer, whezor, whe said some cling to their guns in religion. four years later romney explains his own words after the campaign gave them no bounds and the president leading many in the key battleground states. >> as for the person who took that video. he does not work for the obama campaign or democratic party. tonight governor romney stood by the 47% argument. saying people that get help from the government might not like his plan for less government, when he talked about sliver of

independent voter, he talked about the ones who voted for president obama before. he actually said many of them love the phrase that he's over his head in talking about president obama. the question is, will they love hearing that phrase said behind closed doors now? >> thanks so much for that report. david will have more tomorrow morning on "good morning america." prin just ahead prince william and his wife kate take legal action over the topless photographs. all about the royal scandal, next. [ engine revving ] ♪ [ male announcer ] every car we build must make adrenaline pump and pulses quicken. ♪ to help you not just to stay alive... but feel alive. the new c class is no exception. it's a mercedes-benz through and through. see your authorized mercedes-benz dealer for exceptional offers

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get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. but it isn't always easy to find one... anncr: a good job. it's the key to a good life. a vote for question seven is a vote for maryland jobs. two thousand construction jobs to build a new resort casino. four thousand permanent jobs, paying... on average fifty five thousand a year. six thousand jobs from increased tourism... and table games like blackjack and poker. add it up: it's twelve thousand new maryland jobs. but to build it you have to vote for it. vote for question seven. and get maryland back to work. they are the photos seen arounded world. today additional topless snapshots of kate of duchess of

cambridge made their way on to magazine covers while prince william and kate are main taping a stiff upper lip in public their lawyers filed a criminal complaint against the unnamed photographer who took the pictures. here's abc's nick watt. >> william and kate of touring the south pacific celebrating grandma's jubilee. while topless photos are flashed around european mag seasons and seen around the globe. the woman he loves, hounded and humiliated. >> kate, talk about showing a stiff upper lip. >> reporter: today, they took their fight to a paris courtroom much the first time british royals have ever sued for invasion of privacy. a palace spokesman decrease the photographs as, quote, grotesque

and totally insufficiented, press and paparazzi, during the life of diana. that's the route of william. his beloved mother who died in 1997. the driver was rufrpg and car chased by a swarm of paparazzi. since then the press eased offer, but -- >> i think the jeanie is out of the bottle. we live in international environment. we have social media to how things were 10 or 15 years ago. news spreads fast. >> reporter: google kate and before you are halfway done typing. there you are, the photos, taken while kate and william relax at a french chateau. they are now everywhere including gossip sites in the u.s. >> there's nothing that will stop them from viewing the photos online. >> reporter: apparently british

tabloid turned them down. but endless photos of pippa's bottom. clothed. but kate, topless, not a chance. >> poor girl will be afraid to take her socks off anywhere she goes. >> reporter: outside of britain, royal deference, evaporates. >> she's a young lady. she's nice, she's not bad, she's beautiful. >> reporter: today despite the legal action against the french magazine that first published the picture, an italian magazine put out a 26-page spread with the headline the queen is naked. well, not quite. the duchess would be no different than other celebs, beyonce or rihanna. she's one of the most

photographed people on the world. and she decides to partially disrobe on a cal connie where it can be seen on a public road. they watch aid billion people to watch their wedding on tv and they demand a private life. these days, paparazzi culture born in britain is growing, global and insatiable. >> i started when i was in college in the late '90s. it was that time in los angeles there was about 25 paparazzi photographer, now there's close to 300. >> and outside britain, the shadow of diana means less. . a story of princess diana dying is a story about a drunk driver and driver high on pills. they were not change the car, they were following the car. >> reporter: today kate and william in were met in the

solomon islands by bare-breasted dancers. c. >> just a beautiful couple in the south of france, and kate is the girl next door. >> reporter: at most, "closer" magazine faces a $13,000 fine. for the royals it's all about drawing a line in the sand. >> william is so keen to show this type of story will simply not be tolerated. he's looking ahead to the future. >> reporter: a french judge will declare to slap an injunction on "quo "closer" spreading further and wider. but this battle for kate's privacy has just begun. >> it is not over yet. our thanks to nick watt. next up from ed sullivan to the

star-studded walls of sat night live. barbara walters talks to tina fey about the best tv shows of our generation, next. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] you've been years in the making. and there are many years ahead. join the millions of members who've chosen insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company.

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so what are the best tv shows of all time? a hotly debated topic for sure but my colleague, barbara walters, set out to find the answers. there's no news category but did "nightline" make the cut anyway? >> almost but not quite. here's the thing abc news and "people magazine" asked america to weigh in and with 1 million votes cast by viewers chose the best television programs in 15 categories from dramas to comedy shows even the top nonhumans

like miss piggy and lassie. and tomorrow night from 9:00 to 11:00 we're going to take a nostalgic trip. with lots of laughs and a few tears. tomorrow a little taste from the best variety show category. it's one of television's most enduring legacies, the variety show. the tv sets may have been black and white. >> you know i can smile. >> reporter: the host a little flair, but it was the ed sullivan show that brought elvis and swinging hips to living rooms across the country. >> ladies and gentlemen the beatles. >> reporter: and the beatles ambassador to america. ♪ >> reporter: of course the '60s brought with them a cultural

revolution also played out on television and soon a woman was hosting america's famous variety show. >> said variety is a man's game not for a woman to do. i said but that's all i know and that's all i want to do. >> reporter: and she did it. singing, dancing and stumbling her way into viewers' hearts. then there's the variety show that brought attitude to the weekends for decades. >> live from new york, it's saturday night! >> reporter: the sketches are indelible. lines quotable. >> isn't that special. >> i'm good enough, i'm smart enough and doggone it, people like me. >> reporter: the creator said he saw an opportunity. >> what was your concept? >> we were a new generation that didn't vey show yet and i thought if i could get that show on the air it would be a hit. >> reporter: and what a hit.

launching the careers of the one-time unknown. eddie murphy. ris rock, will ferrell, and of course tina fey. >> i can see russia from my house. >> reporter: whose idea was it to do sarah palin? >> america's idea. . really the audit vince just insisted on it. the resemblance was so remarkable. >> what was the key to the sarah palin impersonation beyond the glasses? >> she would smile through saying pretty aggressive stuff. the hockey mom with pitbull and lipstick. she was always smiling and you and turning the knife. >> reporter: did you hear from any republicans? >> i heard from republican, my mom who said that was enough.

>> including peaking fun. nobody is above the fray. >> i'm barbara wawa? >> tell me how barbara wawa came in and ruined my life. >> i think she did it with afiction. there was no malice. it was a huge hit. >> i remember watching and thinking. my duty who was a little girl said to me, oh, mommy. be cool. >> choose to take it as a complement. >> reporter: because it's "saturday night live," being cool never gets old. if you like tv you'll love this special. join us from tomorrow night from 9:00 to 11:00. you'll have such a good time. >> thanks, barbara. we'll be watching and arguing with the winners no doubt. thanks for watching abc news, we'll be waiting here in the morning with the latest on the mitt romney shows. good night,